Mainland product named Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year

Mainland product Leonard Williams was named Pac-12 Conference Defensive Freshman of the Year on Monday.

NEWS-JOURNAL SERVICES

SAN FRANCISCO — Mainland product Leonard Williams was named Pac-12 Conference Defensive Freshman of the Year on Monday.

Williams, who also earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors Monday, has 13 tackles for a loss —including 7½ sacks — among his 50 tackles this season. He's fifth on the Trojans in tackles, second in tackles for loss and sacks and first in fumble recoveries with two. He also has an interception.

This is the third consecutive year that USC has had a league Freshman of the Year.

Last year, wide receiver Marqise Lee and linebacker Dion Bailey won offensive and defensive honors, respectively (Lee shared the award with Oregon's DeAnthony Thomas). Receiver Robert Woods was the offensive honoree in 2010.

Stanford coach David Shaw won the Coach of the Year award for the second straight season.

Shaw is the fourth coach in league history to win the award in consecutive seasons. He helped Stanford overcome the departure of No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Luck, seamlessly made a midseason quarterback change from Josh Nunes to Kevin Hogan and overtook Oregon to take the North Division crown.

USC's Lee also was named the league's Offensive Player of the Year and Arizona State defensive tackle Will Sutton the Defensive Player of the Year.

Lee set conference records with 112 receptions for 1,680 yards to go with 14 touchdowns. Sutton led the Pac-12 with 1.82 tackles for loss per game and also registered 10½ sacks.

Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota took home Offensive Freshman of the Year honors.